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Returning to the senses

When the mind is racing and the negative voices in your head become too loud you can find it hard to focus but the best way to calm the racing mind is to return to the body!

Finding calm becomes difficult when the mind starts to race.   AYou can rapidly loose sight of what you are doing, forgetting your goals, becoming distracted and anxious , finding yourself pulled along by the negative swell of your thoughts.

We all have  moments when our mind fills up with random and unrelated negative thoughts but partucularly in times of anxiety, fear and stress. For some these moments pass but for others it can feel like being swept up in a tidal wave and can lead to anxiety and depression. This in turn and can have a serious effects on your sleep habits, on your ability to concentrate and on our general physical and mental health, especially if left untamed.

But the problem is that we cannot think our way out of the racing mind, we cannot tame the mind through our thoughts. The portal to the mind is through the body.

This 5-4-3-2-1 sensory exercise is a wonderful way to reconnect with the body.

Before  starting the exercise take a moment to connect with your breathing by  placing one hand on your chest to listen to and feel the natural rhythm  of your breathing. Now follow the five steps below:

1.  Acknowledge FIVE things you can see in the space around you. If an  object has a special significance for you, recognise that.

2.  Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch. Appreciate their shape and  texture acknowledging any special significance the object holds for you.

3. Acknowledge THREE sounds you can hear, close by or distant. Acknowledge any personal significance the sounds hold for you.

4.  Acknowledge TWO things you can smell. You can move around the space for  this one if you need to. Acknowledge any special significance.

5. Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste ... it may just be the taste in your mouth or the memory of your last meal

This sensory technique is one of many which use the body as the portal to a return to the present in order to calm the mind.

I also enjoy using this technique with my kids when we are out in a place of nature, on our family walks in the Fôret de Montmorency just outside of Paris or when we are sitting together in my father-in-law's sunlit garden in the smal town of Civaux in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France. My kids love this exercise as it helps us all heighten our senses and anchor the joy of the moment. Try it out with your friends and family.

 #mhaw #sophrology #mindfullness

Pamela BOUTIN BIRD - Sophrology and Wellbeing Practitioner